Over 200 developers at Bethesda Game Studios, the studio behind hit franchises like The ancient parchments And To fall, have joined the Communications Workers of America (CWA). 241 workers, including “artists, engineers, programmers and designers,” have signed union authorization cards or “indicated their desire for union representation through an online portal,” according to a CWA press release.
Microsoft recognized the union, according to the CWA; the company has previously recognized unions formed by Activision Quality Assurance Employees And ZeniMax Studios Quality Assurance Staff. The CWA describes this as “the first end-to-end union at a Microsoft video game studio,” meaning that all eligible positions will be represented by the CWA instead of just one type of worker, according to the CWA’s Catalina Brennan-Gatica. (So far, all unions at Microsoft-owned studios have been formed only by quality assurance workers.)
The Bethesda workers will be members of CWA Local 2108 in Maryland and CWA Local 6215 in Texas.
Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
